There are media reports that the Harper Party has its Law-and-Order Get Tough On Crime policy agenda on shifting sands again. They ran into potential constitutional and procedural issues on some of the more right-wing issues form the 2006 election. Their 2008 “law-and-order” platform policy was not only late in the election campaign; it was pretty skinny compared to past efforts.
The Cons enthusiasm for elimination of prisoner voting rights and the abolishing of the artistic merit defense for child porn have been buried and forgotten. The news reports indicate many other election campaign promises in the get-tough-on crime category are being abandoned by Harper as well.
The list is interesting and long including some I agree with some of the policy efforts. I especially like creating mandatory consecutive sentences and no more concurrent sentences for multiple violent sexual offenders and no more additional credit for pre-trial time in custody. I wonder why he is backing off this promise.
Harper seems to have gone soft on terror with the lack of urgency indicated with still no appointment of a national security advisor. Can the same be said for the still outstanding initiative for a national strategy on organized crime?
Now we need to get Harper to back off on legislating life sentences for 14 year olds and get Omar Khadr back home to Canada.
It is really hard to sort our what Harper believes. He says some things which are designed to placate his western base and then he doesn't deliver. Fortunately for him the hate of Liberals runs deep and he can ignore the west and still get virtually all of the seats.
ReplyDeleteI noticed one glaring omission from Harper and his cohorts. Nothing on 'white collar crime'. The conservatives are big on beating up on 'blue collar', but according to Ted Menzies the government is putting very little effort into 'white collar crime'. His words were that "the budget and manpower is just not there". Now why is that, one should be asking?
ReplyDeleteAnd we think we live in a 'classless society'. I don't think so! The reality is that the old cliché still applies i.e. "There is the law for the poor and justice for the rich".
Don't look to the conservatives to do anything about changing that.
HI John - re White Collar Crime - if you go to the latest edition of Alberta Venture magazine you will see a column there called The Right Call that I contribute to. The Nov edition is on ethical considerations of white collar crime.
ReplyDeleteI have bookmarked Alberta Venture magazine and will checkout the Nov. edition when it comes out. Thanks Ken!
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